Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adverb Almost but not quite.
- adverb In a close manner; intimately.
from The Century Dictionary.
- Close at hand; in close proximity; at no great distance; hence, narrowly; with close scrutiny.
- Closely: as, two persons nearly related.
- Intimately; pressingly; with a close relation to one's interest or happiness.
- Within a little of; almost: as, nearly twenty; the prisoner nearly escaped; nearly dead with cold.
- With niggardliness or parsimony.
- Exactly; precisely.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adverb In a near manner; not remotely; closely; intimately; almost.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adverb
almost , but notquite ; slightlyshort of - adverb
intimately ;closely
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adverb (of actions or states) slightly short of or not quite accomplished; all but
- adverb in a close manner
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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In _A. frostiana_ and the pale forms of the species the spores are nearly globose or oval, rarely with a tendency to become elliptical, but _the content is quite constantly finely granular_, while the spores of _A. cothurnata_ are perhaps more constantly globose or nearly so, but the spore is _nearly filled with a highly refractive oil globule or "nucleus."
Studies of American Fungi. Mushrooms, Edible, Poisonous, etc. George Francis Atkinson 1886
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You fancy, perhaps, I have not got a friend, and you are nearly right -- _nearly_, but not altogether.
Uncle Silas A Tale of Bartram-Haugh Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu 1843
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With a perfectly good conductor and a good battery, nearly all the electricity is passed, i.e. _nearly all_ the chemical power becomes transferable, even with a single pair of plates (807.).
Experimental Researches in Electricity, Volume 1 Michael Faraday 1829
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Here is a fact, which I this very minute take from the mouth of a young coloured man, who has been to school in this state (Massachusetts) nearly nine years, and who knows grammar this day, _nearly_ as well as he did the day he first entered the school-house, under a white master.
Walker's Appeal, with a Brief Sketch of His Life And Also Garnet's Address to the Slaves of the United States of America David Walker 1807
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In sentencing Andrew Warren, 43, to a term nearly double what was recommended under federal guidelines, U.S. District Judge Ellen S.
Ex-CIA station chief sentenced to prison for sexually abuse of Algerian woman 2011
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In sentencing Andrew Warren, 43, to a term nearly double what was recommended under federal guidelines, U.S. District Judge Ellen S.
Ex-CIA station chief sentenced to prison for sexually abuse of Algerian woman 2011
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In sentencing Andrew Warren, 43, to a term nearly double what was recommended under federal guidelines, U.S. District Judge Ellen S.
Ex-CIA station chief sentenced to prison for sexually abuse of Algerian woman 2011
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In sentencing Andrew Warren, 43, to a term nearly double what was recommended under federal guidelines, U.S. District Judge Ellen S.
Ex-CIA station chief sentenced to prison for sexually abuse of Algerian woman 2011
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In sentencing Andrew Warren, 43, to a term nearly double what was recommended under federal guidelines, U.S. District Judge Ellen S.
Ex-CIA station chief sentenced to prison for sexually abuse of Algerian woman 2011
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In sentencing Andrew Warren, 43, to a term nearly double what was recommended under federal guidelines, U.S. District Judge Ellen S.
Ex-CIA station chief sentenced to prison for sexually abuse of Algerian woman 2011
mahara commented on the word nearly
We had nearly 40 show up last night for the reception
November 6, 2008